Rollins (NYSE:ROL) Price Target Raised to $48.00

Rollins (NYSE:ROL) had its price objective raised by Morgan Stanley from $46.00 to $48.00 in a research report report published on Thursday morning,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an equal weight rating on the business services provider’s stock.

Several other analysts have also recently issued reports on the company. Barclays assumed coverage on Rollins in a research report on Monday, November 4th. They set an “equal weight” rating and a $50.00 target price on the stock. StockNews.com lowered Rollins from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on shares of Rollins from $54.00 to $56.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 15th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $50.67.

Rollins Stock Performance

ROL stock opened at $48.77 on Thursday. Rollins has a 1-year low of $40.41 and a 1-year high of $52.16. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $49.35 and a 200 day moving average price of $49.19. The company has a market capitalization of $23.62 billion, a P/E ratio of 50.80 and a beta of 0.72. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34, a current ratio of 0.78 and a quick ratio of 0.72.

Rollins (NYSE:ROL) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The business services provider reported $0.29 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.30 by ($0.01). Rollins had a net margin of 14.18% and a return on equity of 38.67%. The business had revenue of $916.27 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $911.15 million. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.28 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Rollins will post 0.99 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Rollins Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 10th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, November 12th were paid a dividend of $0.165 per share. This is a positive change from Rollins’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.15. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, November 12th. This represents a $0.66 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.35%. Rollins’s payout ratio is presently 68.75%.

Insider Activity at Rollins

In other news, major shareholder Timothy Curtis Rollins sold 14,750 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $49.88, for a total value of $735,730.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 124,214 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,195,794.32. This represents a 10.61 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Elizabeth B. Chandler sold 4,685 shares of Rollins stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $50.49, for a total value of $236,545.65. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 84,653 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,274,129.97. This trade represents a 5.24 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 4.69% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Rollins

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of ROL. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Rollins by 1.5% in the second quarter. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC now owns 10,023,281 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $489,036,000 after acquiring an additional 148,316 shares during the period. Montrusco Bolton Investments Inc. grew its position in Rollins by 14.0% during the 3rd quarter. Montrusco Bolton Investments Inc. now owns 9,397,497 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $465,503,000 after purchasing an additional 1,154,722 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Rollins by 2.2% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 7,275,415 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $366,821,000 after buying an additional 157,619 shares during the last quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Rollins by 4.9% in the 2nd quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 2,825,569 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $137,860,000 after buying an additional 133,100 shares during the period. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Rollins by 1.5% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,167,949 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $109,655,000 after buying an additional 31,458 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 51.79% of the company’s stock.

About Rollins

Rollins, Inc, through its subsidiaries, provides pest and wildlife control services to residential and commercial customers in the United States and internationally. The company offers pest control services to residential properties protecting from common pests, including rodents, insects, and wildlife.